From LifeNews.com, by Steven Ertelt, 7/2/13 – Wendy Davis may be the pro-abortion superstar, but a new poll conducted by a Democratic polling firm shows pro-life Texas Gov. Rick Perry would beat Davis in a gubernatorial election — even with women voters.

From the poll from PPP, a Democratic polling firm:

PPP’s new Texas poll finds that Wendy Davis made a good impression on voters in the state last week- but that Rick Perry has also enhanced his political standing considerably over the last five months, making him tough to beat for reelection.

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39% of Texans have a favorable opinion of Davis to 29% with a negative one after her week in the spotlight. Her net favorability is up 14 points from -14 at 15/19 in January.

Nevertheless Davis would trail Rick Perry by 14 points in a hypothetical match up, 53/39. While Davis’ standing has improved over the last five months so has Perry’s. Although he remains unpopular, with 45% of voters approving of him to 50% who disapprove, his approval is up a net 8 points from January when he was at a -13 spread (41/54). In addition to his lead over Davis, Perry also leads Julian Castro 50/43, Bill White 50/40, and Annise Parker 52/35. In January he led this quartet of Democrats by an average of 4 points, now he leads them by an average of 12.

The main reason for Perry’s improved numbers is enhanced standing with the Republican base, and that’s playing out in his primary election numbers too. In January Perry’s approval with GOP voters was 68/26, but that’s up to 81/16 now. Perry now leads Greg Abbott 46/34 in a hypothetical primary election, up from 41/38 in January.

Texans have still had enough of Perry- only 30% want him to seek another term, compared to 60% who think he should step aside. But for now at least it looks like he’s strong enough to slip through a primary, and if he’s able to do that Texas’ Republican lean would likely get him elected to his 4th term.

Should Texas legislators get another bill to ban late-term abortions to the floor of the state Senate, Davis says she will not filibuster the bill a second time. Only a backdown in her support for late-term abortions would likely give her a shot at competing with Perry. But that might also cost her with abortion radical who now regard her as a heroine.